The current state of the art for residential or small office building energy consumption monitoring consists primarily of the standard electric meter, either electromechanical induction watt-hour meters or electronic meters using solid state technology. These meters are ubiquitous and provide gross data on electrical usage, generally in the form of total usage, in kilowatt hours, for a specific period of time, usually by the month, for the building as a whole. Thus, while a home owner, for example, knows on a monthly basis from the electric meter reading the total electricity usage for all electrical devices in the home, there is no way to break this usage down into smaller defined periods of time or for individual electrical devices.
A new generation of electrical meters, known as “smart meters”, can provide real-time or near real-time readings for electricity usage, as well as provide notification of power outages and power quality monitoring. However, the information obtained through smart meters continues to be limited to total electricity usage for all electrical devices in the building. Also, while smart meters may remotely communicate with a central server, such as a utility company, the information is not available to the consumer on a real-time basis. Accordingly, some electrical monitoring improvements exist that purport to monitor specific electrical devices. Such include U.S. Pat. No. 7,423,546 issued to Aisa on 09 SEP 2008 for a device, system and method for monitoring a household electric appliance and U.S. Pat. No. 6,983,210 issued to Matsubayashi et al. on 3 Jan. 2006 for an energy management system, energy management method, and unit for providing information on energy-saving recommended equipment.
The Aisa device is described for monitoring a household electric user, in particular a household appliance, presenting an electric load, where the monitoring device is connected between a source of electric energy and the electric load. The monitoring device includes measuring means for detecting the quantity of electric power or current absorbed by the user. The monitoring device includes control means programmed for: comparing the absorption of electric power or current measured through the measuring means with reference values of electric power or current, which are stored within the control means; generating, in function of the comparison, information which is representative of the present status or phase of operation of the electric user; and allowing the information to be read from outside the device.
The Matsubayashi et al. device is an energy management system capable of calculating power consumption based on equipment information on electrical equipment which is used by a resident. Power consumption is also estimated when a replacement is made with energy-saving equipment. The device then compares and displays the calculated and estimated power consumptions of the electrical equipment owned by the resident, and thereby, allow the resident to become aware of how the replacement helps save energy.
It is therefore an objective of the present invention to provide a system for monitoring energy consumption in residential and small office buildings which provides real-time data of electricity usage of individual electrical devices.
It is a further objective of the present invention to provide a system for monitoring energy consumption in residential and small office buildings which provides an analysis of the electricity usage of individual electrical devices in comparison with alternative devices to assist the user in decision-making regarding replacement, substitution, addition, or elimination of electrical devices.
It is yet a further objective of the present invention to provide a system for monitoring energy consumption in residential and small office buildings which provides remote surveillance over the Internet of electrical systems for the detection of interruptions of use.
Other objectives of the present invention will be readily apparent from the description that follows.